Targu Neamt Offensive

The Targu Neamt Offensive (21-23 June 1944) was an offensive operation carried out by the Soviet Union's Red Army at the start of the Battle of Romania during World War II. The Soviets broke through Hermann Priess' 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf (which was sent as an expeditionary force to Romania) and were able to launch an offensive against the poorly-equipped Romanian Army along the rest of the frontier.

Background
In March 1944, the Soviet Union's forces reached the Dniester River and Southern Bug fronts with Romania during Operation Bagration, bringing their armies to the border with the minor ally of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler granted Ion Antonescu command of several Wehrmacht formations as expeditionary forces, and the initial strategy of the Axis Powers was to launch a defensive campaign along the frontier. However, the Red Army's hundreds of thousands of troops on the border were all better-led, better-equipped, and better-supplied than the Axis forces.

Battle
The Soviet offensive was launched against Targu Neamt in central northern Romania, which was defended by Hermann Priess' infamous 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf ("Death's Head"). Four Soviet divisions, in addition to one in reserve, were hurled against the single German division, overpowering it in a two-day series of clashes that pushed the panzer division back. The Targu Neamt Offensive was the first Soviet battle in the campaign for Romania, and it would be a warning sign for Antonescu that the war would not go well if fought much longer.